The Heart Can Never Lie
by Zerulea
Summary: What if Sora had been able to see into Riku's heart when he dove into Sora's to wake him? What would he have found hidden within Riku's closed off heart? Post DDD


The eerie silence that filled the tower was a confirmation of the late hour, and yet the silverette teen just couldn't bring himself to fall asleep. No matter what he tried the thoughts that filled his mind would not settle, continually bombarding him with uncomfortable thoughts. So much had taken place during their 'exam' how was he not supposed to be overwhelmed by it? Well, that and if he was being honest with himself, the fact that Sora still hadn't returned was not sitting well with him. 

Though he may not have realized it at first, Riku had been with Sora throughout their entire 'exam'. Inside of Sora's dreams, trying to protect him from Xehanort's plan. So he would be lying to himself if he did not acknowledge the fact that being away from Sora without knowing his whereabouts, and whether or not he was even safe, was agonizing. Especially so soon after he had nearly lost Sora to Xehanort. The wound was still open, the fear still too fresh. 

He would not lose Sora again. No matter how many times Xehanort tried, Riku would be there every time, always fighting him. 

Air, that's what he needed. A few minutes outside in the fresh air would help him clear his head. Although, at this point anything sounded better to the teen then sitting in uncomfortable silence in this unfamiliar room in the mysterious tower for another second. Grabbing his yellow vest Riku quickly made his way out of the room, his movements practically silent as he made his way down the long set of twisting stairs, the front door quickly coming into site. Though, as the silverette quietly opened the door his aquamarine eyes immediately locked onto a familiar silhouette sitting on the steps before him. Overwhelming relief rushed through the teen, but it was quickly followed by concern. 

"...Sora?" Riku's voice broke the silence in the cool night air, closing the door softly behind him "...What are you doing sitting out here alone? Did you just get back?" the silverette asked as he stepped out of the doorway and towards the other keyblade wielder. 

"No, I don't know how long I've been out here." Sora paused, seeming to struggle with his reply "...just, needed some time to think." as the younger teen answered, Riku only felt more concerned. Sora's voice sounded distant to him, even though they were so close to each other. That and the brunette didn't even turn around to look at him, usually flashing him that signature grin to reassure him and anyone else around that everything was okay. Something was off. 

"I know the feeling… are you alright? You seemed to bounce back pretty quickly today, I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried." it was true, they had literally almost lost Sora in the grips of a nightmare created by Xehanort and yet the moment Riku managed to wake him the young Keyblade wielder was right back up without missing a single beat. Too quickly if you asked Riku, it almost made the silverette feel as though Sora had done it on purpose. If it had been up to him, he would have made Sora take some time to recover properly before letting him go right back out. 

Sora never answered Riku's question, which only made the silverette more worried, everything about this situation was nothing like Sora. Riku could no longer stand the silence and stepped forward, wanting to look Sora in the eyes only to be abruptly stopped when the brunette spoke up. 

"Riku… what did you see… what did you feel when entered my heart?" the question caught Riku off guard, making him take a moment to collect himself. What would make Sora ask him about this? What had happened? The older teen felt nervous, and a little flustered by the question. 

Riku couldn't admit to Sora that he had blocked himself off from as many overwhelming emotions of Sora's as he could when he entered the younger teens heart to save him. There were certain emotions… a certain relationship, that he would not risk being buried in… he couldn't take that. Especially when it was so important that he stayed focused to bring Sora back. 

"I… well. I felt your struggle for freedom. Your fear of remaining trapped in the dark.. I felt the warmth and comfort of your heart after you awoke.. Saw the safe haven you have provided for the lost hearts that take shelter within you. It was beautiful Sora… you are incredibly kind, and generous even subconsciously." his voice was calm and smooth, covering up the almost fear like uncertainty he felt. Like he always did. 

"That's all?" Sora asked as his shoulders appeared to slump down, his head hanging down, appearing almost broken by Riku's answer. The older teen reached for his companion, wanting to comfort him from whatever seemed to be pulling him down.. And further away from him. Riku took one step closer to Sora before the brunette once again stopped him by speaking up "..You know what I felt when you were inside?" at that Riku felt his heartbeat quicken, his fingers twitching in a nervous reaction as his reach for the other halted. Felt? What could Sora have felt? Riku was the one inside of Sora's heart, and Sora was asleep.. What could he mean? 

"Riku… I can feel everything Roxas feels, everything he reacts to while he's with me.. And everything he's been through… I feel it all. And… I felt it all with you too.." at that Riku felt his heart race, every beat echoing in his ears as he stepped back in disbelief. Aquamarine eyes were wide in fear. How could he have missed that? How could he have left himself open like this? 

If what Sora said was true than he had felt all of Riku's most hidden feelings… his most painful.. and precious. Things he hid from the outside… hid from Sora. "..I… Sora…" he stumbled over his words trying to think of something to say, some way to respond but was stopped by Sora. 

"Riku.. you try to wear a smile for me.. but its not real. Everything you did back then.. it was because of me. You chose the Darkness… because of me." Sora's voice faltered for a moment, his body shaking as teardrops fell to the dirt in between his feet. Still completely turned away from Riku. He wouldn't look at him. 

"Sora.. that's not tru-" 

"Yes it is! Riku, I saw it all… felt it all. All in a single rush… images flashing before my eyes.. So many feelings trying to be processed at once! Riku.. you chose the darkness because of a broken heart. Because you believed you had lost me.. To Kairi… and only fell further as more people got close to me..." with the sound of her name the silverette felt his heart drop. The truth was out, he couldn't fight it now that Sora had realized it. Where could he even start to try and repair their friendship now that Sora was aware of the way he really felt about him? 

"That's why you always teased me about her. Why you started to change. And why you asked me to come with you into the darkness… why you sounded so upset when I kept asking about her. And…. why you sacrificed yourself in the door to darkness. Believing that would protect me from not only the darkness… but also from you... You felt like you had nothing to lose.." Sora paused again as he tried to catch his breath and collect himself, but he felt overwhelmed and helpless. He had experienced all of Riku's pain and loss and now he was feeling his own emotions on top of them. 

"And then you began to search for me, and you found out I was in trouble. That I was sleeping because my memories had been destroyed, and you came for me. Unlike everyone else you never forgot about me.. you couldn't.. Instead you protected me. You fought for me. Doing everything you could to bring me back… even throwing yourself further into Darkness to save me. Sacrificing yourself again... all for me.." Sora was losing his battle with his tears, curling into himself in desperation for comfort. "I saw myself in that pod through your eyes.. felt what you felt as you looked at me…" 

"And you did it, you brought me back, yet you ran away from me in shame immediately. Believing I would never accept you like that… cloaked in darkness. Even though you did it for me. But.. you never truly left me… you couldn't bring yourself to do it." Riku was still and silent as he was forced to face everything he had locked away. Every painful memory, through Sora. 

Riku couldn't even look at the brunette any longer, he was speaking with such passionate heartbreak, His heartbreak. It was as if Sora had taken on the role of Riku's heart itself, unable to bear the burden any longer and begging the silverette to release it all at last. 

"And you were shocked when I finally saw you and didn't care what you looked like… I cried for you, and all you wanted to do was hold me and reassure me but you didn't let yourself. You kept yourself at a distance…like you always do.." as Sora paused Riku's hand clasped into a fist at his side, his eyes shut tight. 

"When we fought Xemnas you couldn't stay away, instead you fought at my side.. but it wasn't only for the sake of the worlds. No, you were fighting for me again. You were fiercely protecting me, taking blows for me and risking yourself yet again. And afterwards when we were stuck in the dark world… you weren't upset… you were content because it was just me and you than." Shame was filling the silverette, he never wanted Sora to know that he would have stayed in the darkness for the rest of time if it meant Sora was beside him. 

"But we made it back because of Kairi… you were happy to see her again, but you hurt so much as you watched me run to her. And that same bitter tightness gripped your heart like it did every time... only this time you tried to fight it. You decided to lock everything away. You seemed happier, but you weren't truly happy. And that's when you started wearing your fake smile for me… just wanting to see me smile back. Telling yourself that's all you needed..." 

"But those locked away feelings never disappeared, and took control once I was in danger again… without you even knowing it this time your body jumped into action to protect me like it had so many times before… and when you realized I might never wake up you panicked, your fear of losing me so strong that you jumped into my heart without a second thought…. Even though it meant possibly sacrificing yourself yet again… you would do absolutely anything to protect me. No matter what the cost…" With that Sora finally turned around. His normally sparkling, cerulean eyes red and puffy in response to the emotions that had overwhelmed the young keyblade wielder, his cheeks were stained by all the tears he had shed over several hours. 

"...Riku… why didn't you tell me that you loved me…?" 

Riku's breath hitched in his throat, his heart now racing almost painfully as he was asked a question he had never imagined he would have to answer. Aquamarine eyes fixated on the broken figure in front of him. At the site of the one he had loved for years, staring back at him painfully awaiting his answer. Silence filled the space between them for several agonizing minutes, but Sora waited, desperate for Riku to speak. 

"Sora… I… what can I say? You weren't supposed to find out… I made myself swear that I would not tell you after all the destruction I caused because of my jealousy. I…. I didn't deserve to tell you. Not after what I did. And you deserved to be happy with Kairi, you both deserved that after all that has happened." the silverette paused as he had to look away again, almost losing his self control at the site of Sora like this. Because of his actions, his emotions. Sora shouldn't have had to feel these things, it was his burden to bare, not Sora's. "...Sora, I never meant to hurt you." 

Sora quickly stood up, surprising the older teen as the distance between them was closing. "Don't you see? This isn't about me.. It's about you Riku. About the unnecessary pain you keep putting yourself through! If.. if you would have just told me…" at that the silverette felt a tug at his heart, the smallest glimmer of hope sparking in his chest. If he had just told Sora the truth? What about it? What would have been different? 

"Or maybe if you had hadn't pushed my heart away when you dove in… you would have seen how I felt about you. How desperately I looked for you… how much I hurt whenever you were gone… how much I worried about you all the time… how everything changed when I finally found you… and how I was okay with being stuck in the darkness with you too… why I held onto you so tightly when you woke up after saving me..." as Sora's voice started to weaver Riku slowly stepped forward and officially closed the gap between, his hand cupping the side of Sora's face as he gently wiped away the freshly falling tears from the brunettes eyes. 

Sora immediately grasped Riku's wrist, keeping his hand from moving away as he pressed into the comforting touch "...Riku… I know I started this journey believing that we were only best friends… but after losing you so many times, not knowing what happened to you... I… I knew I couldn't live without you anymore. I knew that when I finally got you back I wouldn't let you go again. And I broke down when I found you.. I couldn't stop myself… I just wanted to hang onto you forever…" and with that the silverette made his move, his thumb sipping down to Sora's chin and carefully tilting his head up as Riku leaned down, pressing his lips against Sora's in a soft kiss. 

The brunette lost himself at the warm contact, his hands moving to desperately grasp onto Riku's vest and pulling him into the kiss with a passionate need. So much had kept them apart, teared them away from each other, over and over again. And having experienced both of their sides Sora needed this so badly. He needed Riku just as Riku needed him. And the older teen responded to his need, his arms now wrapping around Sora possessively and pulling his smaller body in close. Breaking the kiss only to bury his face in Sora's hair, as Sora buried himself in everything that was Riku. 

"... I love you Riku… so much…" Sora's voice was shaking and muffled by Riku's vest but the silverette still heard every word, simply breathing in the smell of Sora's hair as he let those words echo in his mind. Why had he been such a coward? No more running.. No more hiding.. No more wasted time. This was real.. Sora's love for him was real, and he would not squander it. 

"I love you too, Sora… I always have, and always will."


End file.
